• Counterterrorism Copycats w/ Sarah Yager and Yumna Rizvi | Ep. 203
    Nov 1 2024

    Is the War on Terror really over? Or is it just less visible? Julia is joined by Sarah Yager and Yumna Rizvi to discuss the makings of a militarized, counterterrorism-based U.S. foreign policy, how it impacts the world, and how to change it.

    Sarah is the Washington Director at Human Rights Watch, where she leads the organization’s engagement with the United States government on global human rights issues, with a particular focus on national security and foreign policy. She has previously served at both the Department of Defense and the U.S. Mission to the United Nations.

    Yumna is a Senior Policy Analyst at the Center for Victims of Torture, focusing on human rights, national security, and refugee and asylum protections. She previously served as a human rights expert with Huqooq-e-Pakistan, a joint project of the European Union and Pakistani government aimed at improving the country’s compliance with international treaty obligations.

    Further Reading:
    Counterterrorism Copy Cats: https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/counterterrorism-copy-cats

    Other recent work by Sarah and Yumna:

    Opinion: A debate tip for the candidates — there’s a correct answer on weapons to Israel, Sarah Yager: https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2024-09-09/debate-philadelphia-kamala-harris-donald-trump-gaza

    The Abu Ghraib case is an important milestone for justice, Yumna Rizvi: https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2024/4/28/the-abu-ghraib-case-is-an-important-milestone-for-justice

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    52 mins
  • Who Matters? Foreign Policy’s Place in the Presidential Election, w/ Chris Shell | Ep. 202
    Oct 28 2024

    Does foreign policy matter in the presidential election? The answer might surprise you. Chris Shell joins the pod to discuss recent survey findings about foreign policy and the presidential election. Gaza, Ukraine, immigration, climate change, and China all feature in the discussion, as well as what's really going on with the African American vote.

    Subscribe to the Un-Diplomatic Newsletter: https://www.un-diplomatic.com

    How Do Americans Feel About the Election and Foreign Policy?: https://carnegieendowment.org/research/2024/10/american-voters-election-foreign-policy?lang=en

    Race, Foreign Policy, and the 2024 Presidential Election: https://carnegieendowment.org/research/2024/10/election-survey-2024-foreign-policy-race?lang=en

    Find Chris on Twitter: https://x.com/ChrisShell95

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    42 mins
  • Ukraine, Israel-Palestine, Political Campaigns, and China Rivalry--Block & Build Crossover | Ep. 201
    Oct 22 2024

    Crossover episode! Van appeared on Convergence Magazine’s Block and Build podcast, hosted by Convergence founder Cayden Mak, to talk about Kamala Harris’s foreign policy. They end up covering all the big issues--Ukraine, Israel-Palestine, and China rivalry. They also gab about what it’s like working as an unpaid foreign policy adviser to a presidential campaign.

    Subscribe to Block and Build: https://convergencemag.com/podcast/the-future-of-american-foreign-policy-with-van-jackson/

    Subscribe to the Un-Diplomatic Newsletter: https://www.un-diplomatic.com

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    1 hr and 8 mins
  • Zero Dark Thirty (2012) Free Preview of Bang-Bang Podcast | Ep. 200
    Oct 21 2024

    Free preview of the Bang-Bang Podcast. “We tortured some folks.” Katherine Bigelow and Mark Boal’s cinematic blockbuster about the Bin Laden assassination was alternately ballyhooed and panned upon its release. Fans praised its purported cinematic achievements while critics lamented its alleged militarism or pro-torture sympathies. What’s remarkable today is the attention it received in all directions, perhaps a universal attention no longer possible in a society so fragmented and lost. Van and Lyle try to make sense of the movie as a contested event, and what its ambiguous ending might tell us about what came next. They also recall where they were when Obama ordered Seal Team Six to pull that trigger.

    Get the full episode--and all episodes--at: https://www.bangbangpod.com

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    13 mins
  • Veep Debate, Ta -Nehisi Coates Slays Anti-Semitism, Middle East War, China War Fanatics | Ep. 199
    Oct 4 2024

    Matt and Van chop it up about the Veep debate between Tim Walz and JD Vance; how Ta-Nehisi Coates has taken up the mantel of James Baldwin; the Biden administration's expanding role in Middle East war; and the fanaticism of about China that is dividing America, predictably.

    Subscribe to the Bang-Bang Podcast: https://www.bangbangpod.com

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    37 mins
  • Combat Obscura--A Bang-Bang Podcast Cross-Over | Ep. 198
    Oct 1 2024

    Crossover episode! In addition to Un-Diplomatic, Van is now co-hosting Bang-Bang--a new show about war movies, with an anti-imperialist twist. Van and his co-host, Lyle Jeremy Rubin, are military veterans, war critics, and film junkies. Enjoy this free cross-over episode where Van and Lyle discuss Combat Obscura, a 2018 documentary from Miles Lagoze about Marines in Afghanistan (and Lyle’s experience as a Marine in Afghanistan at the same time this was filmed).

    Subscribe to the Bang-Bang Podcast: https://www.bangbangpod.com/

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    1 hr and 32 mins
  • Live! World War III and the Presidential Election | Ep. 197
    Sep 27 2024

    Van spoke at the New Zealand Fabian Society about how the Democratic and Republican Party’s views on foreign policy are changing, and what those changes (and continuities) mean in the context of the US presidential election.

    Written remarks: https://www.un-diplomatic.com/p/live-world-war-iii-and-the-presidential

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    58 mins
  • China Tripping, Israel's Horizontal Escalation, Pakistan's Climate-Debt Nexus | Ep. 196
    Sep 21 2024

    Matt reports out on his recent trip to China. Israel's terrorism in Lebanon and the horizontal escalation happening before our eyes. And Pakistan as a case study of why geopolitics, climate adaptation, and the sovereign debt crisis must be addressed together or not at all.

    Matt's remarks from the Xiangshan Forum: https://internationalpolicy.org/publications/the-right-way-for-china-and-the-us-to-get-along/

    Van's remarks at the NZ Fabian Society: https://www.un-diplomatic.com/p/live-world-war-iii-and-the-presidential

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    30 mins